African-American Women's Health and Social Issues

the same race and culture as in the child's best interest. The value of ensuring that African-American children learn the whole and complete sum of
who they are, as members of a distinct group, is the issue.

The following statement by the NABSW ( 1994, p. 5) provides a succinct
summation of the importance of this issue.

Culture is the single most important filter through which we see the world. It is
through culture that we assign the meaning to circumstances, situations, and experiences in our world--it is one's world view. In the African-American community,
culture is the sum total of our historical experience. This includes the impact of
and survival strategies developed from the experience of slavery and racism in America."

Transracial adoptions continue, as does the debate. Is it time, perhaps,
to broaden the debate on transracial adoption from the issue of what is
"in the child's best interest" to encompass the compelling issue of who
gets to define what is "in the child's best interest?"

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